The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘Tis the season to give thanks
MIDDLETOWN — It is Thanksgiving time again in Middlesex County and throughout our great nation. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, not simply because of the great turkey dinner with all the trimmings, but because it inspires reflection and a true appreciation of what is important in life.
I am blessed with a wonderful family, led by my wife, Patty, and a network of friends that truly has my back.
It is an honor and a privilege for me to serve as president of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, a dynamic business organization with over 2,250 members that employ over 50,000 people. I am thankful for my staff at the chamber which works hard on behalf of the business community in Middlesex County on a daily basis.
We have a dedicated Board of Directors, led by Chairman Jay Polke, which truly makes Middlesex County a great place to live, work and play. I am thankful to be a citizen of the United States of America, a place where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is guaranteed in writing.
I want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving, and I hope everyone keeps in mind those who are less fortunate during the holiday season.
It is hard to believe, but the 33rd annual Holiday on Main Street, presented by Pratt & Whitney, is here. Festivities begin Friday at 4 p.m. For details, visit holidayonmain.com. We hope to see you downtown!
Looking ahead to next week, the chamber team is ready to for our Business After Work Networking Reception at the Riverhouse at Goodspeed Station in Haddam Wednesday. The event will feature the Central Business Bureau’s 2018 Festival of Wreaths Silent Auction.
Beautifully decorated wreaths will be displayed for viewing and bidding until the auction closes at 6:30 p.m. The funds that are raised will benefit the annual Holiday on Main Street, also presented by the Hal Kaplan Middletown Mentor Program. Liberty Bank annually sponsors and donates the artificial wreaths for chamber member businesses to decorate, and we certainly appreciate that continued support.
Our members and their guests always look forward to the delicious spread of food and drink provided by the Riverhouse team, along with the outstanding networking opportunities that the event provides. We certainly look forward to a fun evening in Haddam, and I want to once again thank Owner Jim Bucko, General Manager Hattie Donner, and the entire Riverhouse team for hosting this outstanding event.
I want to remind everyone of two important workshops in December. On Dec. 11 from 8 to 10 a.m., the Key Bank Workshop series continues with a session, “Time Management, The Two Faces of Time Management.” Presented by Jim Jackson of the Connecticut Small Business Development Center, the workshop
will cover practical techniques that you can use to immediately gain control over your day and more effectively manage interruptions and distractions.
The second workshop will take place Dec. 12 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Community Health Center on Main Street in Middletown. This workshop is “Accidentally on Purpose: When Drug Abuse Turns Suicidal.” This is a difficult topic, but it is a very important one for the business community, and for the community at large.
I want to thank our partners in this effort, Middlesex Hospital, Wesleyan University, the Community Health Center and Rushford for all of their great work and support. More information on both events is available at middlesexchamber.com, and I will continue to provide updates in this column as we get closer.
In closing, I ask once again that members and other interested parties save Dec. 19 for an important chamber morning in Cromwell. We look forward to welcoming Gov. Dannel P. Malloy as keynote speaker for the final time at our annual governor’s breakfast at the Red Lion Hotel. Gov. Malloy has appeared at our December member breakfast meeting in every year of his administration, as have all of our sitting governors, going back to the administration of Gov. William A. O’Neill in the 1980s.
Gov. Malloy has given eight years of his life to the state of Connecticut and he deserves our respect and appreciation. We look forward to thanking him for his service at this important chamber event. I also appreciate the support of Eversource, which not only sponsors this breakfast meeting on an annual basis, but supports a number of other chamber programs and initiatives. The company will also sponsor an important workshop immediately following the meeting, which will focus on emergency preparedness and economic resilience.
Our working title for this event is “Is Your Business and Community Resilient to Serious Incidents or Disasters?” Speakers will stress the importance of developing an emergency preparedness and business continuity plan, and will provide some important information on the local preparedness infrastructure in Middlesex County.
More information will be available in the coming weeks, but please save the date for this important morning.
Happy Thanksgiving, Middlesex County, and as you enjoy the holiday, please keep in mind the brave men and women of our Armed Forces serving at home and around the globe.